It turns out that this wasn't the case, not surprising, and that the struggle continues. It doesn't look good, as Jiren is hardly breaking a sweat while Goku is clearly reaching his limits. Still, this is what the Dragonball franchise does so well, epic battles of will power with tremendous amounts of beam energy being pushed back and forth between the two adversaries. It's a spectacle to be sure and the animation is top notch. You can really see where that extra week went, not only here, but throughout the remainder of the episode.
Alas, it appears that it was only a delay of the inevitable. Goku succumbs to exhaustion and falls into his own spirit bomb. It's not clear if he's alive or dead. He doesn't appear in the bleachers, but nobody can sense his energy. It's a very somber moment that is quite well done, even taking into account the meta-knowledge that Goku's coming back.
You'd think that Goku dying would eliminate Jiren, giving the other fighters some semblance of hope, but this doesn't turn out to be the case. As it was Goku's attack that did him in, Jiren is spared elimination. It adds a little extra salt to the wound for universe 7.
In the last episode, the gods surmised that watching Goku fall would crush everybody else's fighting spirit. It turns out that this isn't the case at all. In fact, other fighters all approach Jiren. Sadly, this Jiren vs everybody match up never materializes, but it was still a good moment for the other universes, regardless.
It is interrupted by the glorious return of Goku, who has now ascended into a new, powerful form that blows everybody away. It's been a while since we had a new form, so it was rather nice to see things kick up another notch. On top of that, the form is pretty cool looking, is bolstered by the aforementioned top-notch animation, and has some unique features. This new form grants Goku amazing speed, though the way the characters talk, it's more than that. In any event, he is able to actually stay on par with Jiren now, where his previous peak form could barely keep up.
In a glaring contrast to universe 7, when Toppo and Dyspo see that the fight is turning against Jiren, they actually jump in to give their teammate some backup. Admittedly, it doesn't work, but I still thought it was nice to see somebody finally do it. As Toppo and Dyspo are hardly slouches on their own, it also goes to show you how powerful Goku has become, now being capable of fighting off two of the remaining universe 11 fighters at the same time with no trouble.
Suffice it to say, everybody is stunned at the power Goku is showing. It begs the question of what happened. I assumed that, like he had in several of the non-canon movies, that Goku just absorbed the spirit bomb and used that to boost his power. It's apparently more convoluted than that, I think unnecessarily so. Either way, Goku has tapped into something called "Ultra Instinct". This is a thing that's never clearly defined, but it is apparently a power that even gods have trouble attaining.
I kind of wish that we had gotten more detail, but it was still a fairly well done scene, with a remixed version of Zamasu's theme playing as the spectators try to deduce what had happened. The pantheon seems a tad spooked, but the grand priest is more curious and mayhap even slightly impressed. The omni-kings just think it looks cool.
The ensuing fight is one for the ages. I know I already mentioned the animation twice, but it bears repeating that the crew really stepped up their game here and it paid off. The fight was fast paced, both fighters landed solid hits, and it kept you on the edge of your seat. I know that moving this fight up is supposed to subvert convention, but you get the feeling that subsequent match ups aren't going to be able to jump this particularly high bar.
Despite Goku's best efforts, he is still unable to eliminate Jiren. Much like super saiyan 3, this one burns through energy really quickly, and Goku finds himself reduced to his base form, where Jiren once again has a clear advantage.
It's a shame, the form was just introduced and I already get the feeling that it will join the ultra super saiyan form and super saiyan 3 as ones that never really come up again due to lack of practical use. Then again, Goku could pull a Frieza and master the form to work out the flaws. I guess we'll have to see.
In the meantime, however, the episode leaves us with some intriguing morsels for the next episode. Hit attempts to take on Jiren, following through on the face-off that was teased earlier in the tournament. Vegeta is about to get a rematch with Ribrianne. Most interestingly, though, is the predicament Goku finds himself in. He is exhausted from his fight and Frieza has decided to take the opportunity to off his nemesis once and for all, aiming a death beam at the saiyan as he grins menacingly. It makes for quite a cliffhanger.
This episode was fantastic, delivering everything fans would want to see with a match up like this. Most two parters start strong and taper off, this one started strong and got stronger....which is kind of fitting given the franchise we're talking about. Either way, this was one for the books and the next episode looks like it will actually make for a worthy follow up. I'm excited to see how things play out from here.
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